In the art of a corner bead for fireproofing structural steel, prior approaches conventionally comprise a v-bend “plastic nose corner bead” having adjustable legs (flanges). This type of corner bead is mostly used in the plastering and stucco trades. The previously utilized corner bead is constructed of wires welded into a lattice that is v-shaped in section as shown in FIG. 1.
In installation, the longitudinal base wires of the v-shaped corner bead are attached with a tie wire either onto a metal lath or onto a wire mesh, and further attached to the steel member to be fireproofed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. To establish the correct fireproofing thickness, one must establish the correct height of the vertex by shrinking or expanding the distance between the legs (flanges) of the corner bead defined by the vertex. Using this technique, the alignment of the corner bead with the adjacent surface is difficult and great skill is required to install the corner bead for fireproofing structural steel.
Accordingly, the need exists for an improved corner bead to avoid inaccuracy in gauging the thickness of the fireproofing material and to allow easy installation. The improved corner bead is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install.